July 2022 – Pentlandite

The mineral of the month July is pentlandite. Mostly pentlandite looks rather unspectacular, because it does not develop beautiful crystal forms – however, it is of special interest as an ore mineral. Nickel is extracted from pentlandite, which is used for the production of steel, for example, but is also contained in our euro coins. In addition to nickel, pentlandite can also contain the rare element palladium, which is needed, for example, for catalytic converters in cars. Therefore, pentlandite is a very exciting ore mineral, which is also being researched in the Mineralogical State Collection.

(Ni,Fe)₉S₈

Locality: Sudbury, Canada

Size: 3x6x4 cm (HxLxW)

Weight: 120 g